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Angeles Crest 100 1999 Report: Pete Petri

Short because....well, I didn't run the whole thing.  After a tough
day filled with various problems, I dropped at Chilao (52.8 miles) at
around 8 P.M. or so. What happened and what was the day like?

At 3:15 when the alarm went off, I felt very optimistic despite
getting only about 2 hours sleep. I felt even better at 5 when the
fire engine let loose it's alarm and we headed out into the night. I
actually started at the very back of the pack, as I hoped that it
would be a mental boost to slowly work my way through the crowd.

The first 9 to Inspiration Point were pretty uneventful, as the climb
up to the PCT kept me nice and slow, and the slowly rising sun
provided some great views of Wrightwood and the desert below. My big
concern coming in was my right leg, and it gave me a few fits during
this section...little soreness in the knee for a few minutes, then
gone; then the quad started, then gone. Slowly, areas in my upper
right leg would go through this until all had been accounted for,
then remained quiet and healthy throughout the day.

At Inspiration Point I was greeted by not only my wife, but also my
son and ex-wife who had drove up from Barstow. This was their first
experience with an ultra, so I included my son right off the bat,
handing him a few items that would need to be refilled by Vincent
Gap. I wasted 5 minutes there, then was off again.

Once again, the trip to Vincent Gap was uneventful, and I actually
ran it a bit faster than planned, letting myself go on the downhills
for fear of causing damage to my quads by holding back. This was
actually going to add to trouble later, but at the time it felt
right. I also had been experiencing a sore spot on my right heel from
the new shoes I was wearing, which was really starting to bother me.
I had actually planned on changing at Inspiration, but forgot when I
saw my son.

Arrived at Vincent at got down to business, throwing off the 2 bottle
pack to change to a Camelback, barking orders for the crew, changing
shoes, etc, etc. This stop only cost me 6 minutes despite changing
almost everything I was wearing, so it was now on to the beast.

Mt Baden-Powell was one of my biggest fears, especially in the first
half of the course. I had run it 3 weeks earlier, and the elevation
and my condition led to a severe ass-whoopin. I was concerned that I
would again get to the top totally out of it and worn out, but the
experience today was different. I started the slow walk up with a
steady pace, and began counting switchbacks. Within the first mile I
knew something was different, as the length between the switchbacks
seemed a lot less, and I felt great. Passing folks left and right, I
made it up to the summit in 20 minutes less than 3 weeks earlier, and
I felt great. Eric Robinson and I traded pictures, then it was down,
down, down. This is where I think I really blew it, as I was feeling
so good and so psyched that I ran the downhills pretty aggressively.
Also of interest in this section, I started off with about 80-85 oz.
of water in my Camelback and a 20 oz bottle of CLIP and had finished
all of it by about 1/2 mile before Islip Saddle; that's over 100
ounces of fluid in a little over 3 hours, while only taking 1 S!Cap
an hour. More trouble.

Mt. Williamson caused me some more trouble. Although short (1.6
miles), the climb up is about the steepest on the course, and by now
(after noon) it was getting pretty hot. By the time I reached the
top, I was in trouble, with my quads really seizing up and my calves
getting ready to. Several guys had pulled over at the top of
Williamson to massage and stretch, but I pressed on.

When I arrived at Eagle's Roost (30 miles), we knew we were in
trouble. My crew let me sit down for a few minutes, and I tried to
cool off. I also took another S!Cap, and started taking them more
often, like about 30-45 minutes apart. I knew I was in trouble, but I
thought it was still manageable, so my crew booted me outta there and
off I headed for the hottest part of the course, the Cooper Canyon on
our way to Cloudburst Summitt.

The downhill and flats of this section weren't bad, but my energy was
draining quick, mostly in my legs. I kept taking the S! Caps but
couldn't seem to get back in balance, and it just got hotter and
hotter. After bopping around the canyon for what seemed a long time,
we began the climb up to Cloudburst, and I finally unraveled. My legs
were like lead, and I could hardly walk. I figured my race was over
at this point, and began to feel very disappointed in myself. When I
finally made it to the top, I slunk down in my chair, put my head in
my hands and started crying out of frustration and disappointment. My
calves had little muscle-quakes going on underneath the skin, and I
was done. Fortunately, my crew wasn't going to let up so easy.
Although neither my wife, Jim Winne or my son knew what to do, Maria
Calvert came over with some emergency salt. We poured a bunch of it
into a water bottle, and after about 3/4 of it, I felt a lot better
and my legs got new life into them. Jim and Carmen got my pack and
bottles ready, and the next thing I knew, Jim was pulling the Coke
bottle from me as I started down the trail again. It's amazing what a
good crew can do for you, as Maria provided the smarts, and Jim and
Carmen the heart to keep me going.

I was able to run most of the way to Three Points (about 5 miles) and
got in there feeling halfway human, albeit quite tired and sore.
After about 5 minutes of eatin and restocking, I headed down the
trail again to Mt Hillyer. This section is about half down, then half
up. Chatted for a few minutes with Reid Walden, who was having the
same electrolyte problems as I and was feeling pretty grim. After
about halfway down I had to start walking some of the down as I was
getting real sore in my quads again. I was glad when the climbing
started again, although being on a road for a few miles kinda sucked.
I felt OK at the Mt Hillyer aid station, and had even picked up 10
minutes on the cutoff. I had some soup and a hot dog, then started up
the last bit towards the top of Hillyer. I don't know what happened
in those 5 minutes at that aid station, but I suddenly had nothing
left in my quads. I guess the last 3.5 miles into Chilao are all
downhill and that was enough to kill me. My quads were so shot that
every step down really hurt. I had to walk the entire section, and
knew I was done.

When I finally got into Chilao, I was still 40 minutes ahead of the
cutoff, but it didn't matter. The idea of going down any more was
more than I could stand, so filled with dissapointment, I handed in
my bracelet.

Jim ended up pacing someone else, and Carmen and I went to Johnson's
field to set up our tent and get some sleep. I would be awakened
occasionally by another finisher, but during the night there weren't
that many. We also hung out all day to watch everyone finish, and
then the awards after.

My congratulations go out to all the finishers of the race; my heart
goes out to all those who, like me, gave it their best shot but came
up a little short; Kudos to Tom Neilson for taking the whole
enchilada; thumbs up to the multi-100 racers like Jose Wilkie and the
Last Great Racers like Stan, Karl, Janine, etc. My thanks go out to
my crew of Jim Winne, my son John, Maria and the rest of the JABOY's
for extra support and, most of all, my wife, who has put up with me
talking, eating and sleeping this thing for the last 4 months, and
did it all with a smile. It was a heck of a day, and, looking back, I
still enjoyed it all.

When I was hobbling down the backside of Mt Hillyer headed to Chilao,
feeling like shit, discouraged, dissapointed, I spent some time with
another runner who was also going to drop. We spent a lot of time
talking about how the resources needed to do a 100 would probably
rule out trying one again in the near future. We came up with all
sorts of reasons why we wouldn't try one again. The next morning,
several folks asked me what would be next, and I told them that now
was not the time to make that decision. On the way home we began to
talk about the possibilities of doing another.

This morning, armed with new knowledge of myself and what is required
of the distance, I pulled out my entry form for the Y2K Western
States 100 (auto entry-2 time loser)...
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Armand "Pete" Petri
pete@petesnet.com, pete@crossingpress.com
The Forest of Nisene Marks 50K
http://www.petesnet.com/running/fnm50k.html